>Zombies. That’s what happened. If you aren’t a fan of zombie comics, blame Robert Kirkman. It’s his fault. I personally love them though… Looking back on the past 10 years, the one thing that stands out to me in the comic world is the use of zombies. Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, Fantagraphics, Dynamite, Boom!, and so on… None could escape the menace of the comics zombie horde. So, I’ve decided to write 5 brief reviews on zombie comics in no certain order.

1. Zombies vs Robots, IDW 2007

This is the story of Robots in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by, what else but, zombies and robots. The story follows a group of robots charged with protecting the last living human, a baby, from the entire planet of starving zombies. The overall goal is to clone that child and recreate the human race. This was a pretty fun title, loaded with humor and violence, the story by Chris Ryall built an interesting world with fairly human robots. The robot personalities are worth the price of admission alone. And the art by Ashley Wood, is… well, it’s just like Ashley Wood art. Everyone isn’t a fan, but I think it worked very nicely here. If you haven’t read, go read it.

2. Marvel Zombies, Marvel 2005

The story of a Marvel Universe plagued by a zombie virus. Initially a tie-in to and Ultimate Fantastic Four story, the first series deals with the Undead Avengers tracking down the last few living survivors on Earth, as well as a very angry Magneto. What we learn here, is that Spider-Man ate his aunt and wife, and that he is sad. Although, it doesn’t take much to make Spider-Man sad. lol. But seriously, we get a tale that shows us what Marvel’s finest does in the face of being the undead, while retaining their intelligence. Is there a cure? What do other zombies taste like? And what do you do when Galactus shows up? These are questions raised by Robert Kirkman. The art by Sean Phillips was pretty sweet too. Now, this book was pretty solid, however, I cannot vouch for all of the spin-offs and follow-ups… But the first series is definitely one to check out.

3. Blackest Night, DC 2009

If you’ve stepped foot in a comic book store for the latter half of the past year, then you’ve heard of DC’s Blackest Night, the Green Lantern epic dealing with a war of lights leading to the Universe being devoured by darkness. Black rings have traveled across the Universe to resurrect the dead of DC. Heroes, Villains, loved ones, and more all rising to eat the hearts of DC’s finest. The story hasn’t been completed yet, but so far things have been pretty great all around. Geoff Johns has spent years building up to this moment, starting with the resurrection of Hal Jordan back in Green Lantern: Rebirth. If you aren’t reading this, I’m sure you have a good reason as to why. Because if you don’t? You should be reading this.

4. The Walking Dead, Image 2003

Robert Kirkman’s zombie epic. A story about a man named Rick, and his survival during a zombie apocalypse with his family, friends, and strangers. The book isn’t so much about the zombies as it is the relationships between the living characters and the new world that they are forced to live in. They’ve lived in a prison with forgotten inmates, some have been forced into torture and possible combat in a zombie gladiatorial arena, and some have even been eaten by fellow humans. The most recent story arc, dealing with just that. This black and white book has so much good in it, and if you feel that there are just too many zombie comics out there, you can blame this one. I love it.

5. Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, IDW 2006 or LOFI Magazine 2004

This one is a bit different, as there’s really only one zombie, and even then, he’s not quite a zombie. This is the story of some sort of demon maggot, that controls a corpse as a means of mobility. He, with his robot and magical stripper friend, they protect the world from bad things that go bump in the night. I guess, Wormwood, is also British… Which makes the dialogue really fun for me. The story and art is done by Ben Templesmith, which again, is very agreeable to me. The world that is built within the first book is a pretty cool one, after seeing some of the later stuff, that world just keeps on getting cooler. So yes, you’ve guess it, I’m telling you to go and check that out as well.

So in the end, I think it’s pretty swell that the one thing that really stands out to me with comics this decade is the zombies. Zombies are awesome. And I hope that they remain profitable in some shape or form, be it in comic, book, or film form. Zombies, much like busting ghosts, makes me feel good. So with that, I’m ready for 2010. See ya.

-Fleet

---

Both comments and pings are currently closed.